Unjumping The Shark

I realize that some time ago, this website jumped the shark. At least, I thought it did. Somewhere around the time my car broke down, this blog went from being helpful to being whiney.

However, I think I've received more comments since I became whiney then I did when I acted like a know-it-all. Quite frankly, the support has been welcome, and lots of the advice has been great!

But I still want this blog to become helpful again. And here to help me do that is Kathryn, who has been going through some of the same stuff I have, and has had to go it alone. She has some great tips I think everybody can use, including me.

I'll be publishing her email, along with my comments, over the next couple of days. Here goes!

Hello Erik,

I have been reading your blog for the past few days. I haven't read through all the archives yet, but I am working on it in my free time. I was going to post a comment, but it wouldn't let me since I am not a blogger. Hence this email. Hmm...where do I start? I have some free advice for you and your wife. I am almost 30 myself and have struggled with the exact same things you are struggling with, i.e. weight loss and financial freedom. I have the financial freedom thing down, but am still working on losing more weight.

For starters, why did you buy a Saturn? First things first, I would trade in that Saturn for a Toyota Camry! It doesn't even have to be a new Toyota Camry. I have a 1997 and haven't ever had anything major go wrong with it. After checking the consumer reports, I found out that the Toyota Camry is one of, if not THE BEST, car for families. I have two daughters just like you, so I wanted a good, reliable sedan to haul them around in and luckily decided on the Camry.

I agree completely. My next car will definitely be a Honda or a Toyota.

I'm not going in for one yet, though--my primary goal right now is to become completely debt-free. As crazy as it may sound, I want to pay cash for my next car. That means paying this car off at an accelerated rate, and then starting to save the mileage checks I get from work towards a used vehicle.

The Saturn hasn't been too bad for me, although I have discovered the problem I just had with this one is fairly common (If you have a Saturn, do not, under any circumstances, let it overheat).

I got a great deal on the Saturn--at the time, I looked at Hondas and Toyotas, and they were just a hair out of my price range.

(Actually, there was a Nissan I could have afforded if the guys at Planet Nissan in San Bernardino hadn't tried to pass a 24% interest rate off as an 11% interest rate. But that's another story.)

Next, you and your wife need to start saying NO to everything. I know, it is easy to get suckered into offers, specials, sales. But all those things end up being is another headache. Hence the credit card situation when your wife thought she was only requesting information, but they had to sign her up BEFORE they sent out the information.

Wonderful advice.

In my wife's defense, she's become a master of using coupons and offers to make money rather than just save money. In this case, the way the whole thing was presented to her made it sound like an exploitable system she could have cleared some cash on. Not wanting to get ripped off, though, she requested the information.

I do want to say we did get in writing that those charges are all reversed. Came in the mail today.

Here is what I did for financial freedom:

1. Cut off the cable TV and cancel your newspaper and magazine subscriptions. Now, I get about 2 local channels so if I really want to watch the news or something else on that channel, I still can, but without the monthly $43 bill. I rent FREE DVD's at our local library. I was shocked to find out that they have so many titles, for adults and kids. I also have more time to do other things now that the cable is gone. I don't miss it one bit. Get your news online, and take a trip to the local library once a month or so to read your favorite magazines and check out books.

Check! We don't subscribe to any magazines, and we only get the Sunday paper for the coupons (We also bum coupons of subscribing family members who don't coupon shop).

We did cancel the cable, except local channels. For $5.99 a month, we get the local channels from Dish Network (Unfortunately, antennas don't work where I live). We do make extensive use of the local library, including their audiobook section, since I drive a lot.

(Actually, for any locals reading this, I recommend the Riverside library by the Mission Inn. They have lots of free videos and audiobooks. San Bernardino still charges for both.)

2. Cut off all the "extra" telephone services-NO more call waiting, voice mail, etc. I pared my monthly service down to $13 and got an answering machine. Then I cut off my DSL and signed up for $10 a month Net Zero. I hardly notice the difference in the internet service and I could care less if anyone doesn't like the fact that they get a busy signal when they call my house. My Qwest bill used to be around $87 a month, with all the phone features and DSL, Now it is less than $20.

Amen!

I used to love to brag about my ISP--I was getting dial-up for $6.95 a month. Unfortunately, they've gone under, swallowed up by Earthlink, but I'm still getting $9.95 a month for them.

I also agree about the phone bill. My wife and I haggle over this one, though--she can't give up call waiting and voice mail, partly because I spend so much time on the net, and she doesn't want to miss those messages, and because she really does have people she needs to keep in contact with during the day, since she's starting a child care business in the next couple of months to bring in some extra dollars, and wants to be as accessible as possible. Also, she won't give up unlimited long distance, because she really does use it--her family is from back east.

3. Do you have cell phone service? I used to have Verizon's 1100 min. per month plan, and was paying around $80 per month. I cut my cell phone service down to the 400 min. per month + free nights and weekends and saved myself over $40 per month. I also started being religious about checking how many minutes I have used so far, so I don't go over on the minutes to rack up a higher bill. No problem.

My company pays for my cell phone. Otherwise, I would probably get a prepaid for my wife for emergencies and call it done. Just like you could care less if people who call you get a busy signal, I could care less if people can't get a hold of me when I'm at the park. ;)

More to come! Tune in tomorrow!

Friday Mythbustin': There's Nothing Wrong With Being Overweight

Myth: All this obesity and BMI stuff is way overblown. Being fat isn't nearly as big a deal as they say it is.

Fact: While much of the obesity epidemic is overstated, and BMI may be a gross oversimplification, that doesn't mean we can ignore our weight.

In case you hadn't noticed, the media are terribly hypocritical. The new big thing in the media? Headlines like "Is The Obesity Epidemic Overblown?" "Being Fat: Is It As Bad As They Thought?"

And here's the thing: It's not. A lot of the scientific data right now is reinforcing the idea that the obesity myth is just that--largely a myth.

Here's the problem, though. Who was it who overblew it?

The media themselves. They took valid scientific data and blew it out of all proportion in order to get you to "Tune in at 11."

And now, they're making the same mistake the other way. They're taking more valid scientific data and blowing it out of proportion again in order to get you to tune right back in. Only now, it's turned around--they're lulling everyone back into apathy.

Here's the thing--it's not the data that's wrong. It's the hype.

I don't need a scientific study to tell me that being overweight is bad for me. I didn't start this diet because of any scientific study. I did it because I was getting winded too easy. I did it because my knees were aching constantly, a pain I couldn't bear any more. I did it because I never had any energy.

Clearly, being overweight hurts. The "data" still supports this. Sure, some of the numbers may have been overblown. But even the true data, while it may not be "Tune in at 11" kind of exciting, well--let's just say it brings a smile to my face when I can walk three miles without noticing my knees.

So don't believe the hype. And don't believe the anti-hype. Do what's best for you.

Rental Car Bargains

Since my car's been in the shop for a while, I've been forced to rent. And I've learned about the rental car system.

If any system is sufficiently messed up, and you can find a way to take advantage of it, you can save a ton of money.

In this case, the rental car system is pretty messed up. Dave Barry once joked that the world would not truly be fair until two people sitting next to each other on the same airplane had paid the same price for their tickets.

Same way with rental cars.

My first rental car was actually paid for by my company. A Chrysler 300 from Dollar. Last year's Motor Trend Car of the Year. Wow. It was pretty darn cool, and I didn't have to pay for it.

For my second car, I got a Pontiac Grand Am from Alamo. Using coupons in the Entertainment Book, and a discount they give to anybody who uses the coupon book, I was able to get it for about $115 for five days.

So when the day came to return it, I knew I wouldn't have my car back yet. So I called up Alamo the night before and asked what it would be to keep the car another four days. They said it would normally be about $130, but with a $10 a day fee for keeping the car past the contract, it would come out to $170.

"So lemme get this straight," I said, "It would be cheaper to go in and get a new one than keep this one?"

"Probably. Go ahead and call and see."

So I hung up with the local rental center, then called the main distribution center. They rented me a mid-size for the next morning for four days. Using another coupon, it came out to about $80.

So I go the next day, drop off my mid-size, walk inside, pay for the new midsize, go back outside, and pick up a full-size. See, there were no mid-sizes on the lot, so I got a free upgrade. Even though the mid-size I had just returned was sitting maybe 20 feet away with the keys still in it, it hadn't been "cleaned and prepped" yet, or whatever.

So here's some tips for renting cars:

1. Always make your reservation for a small car. You should do this in the hopes of getting upgraded free. If you want a bigger car, and they don't upgrade you free, you can always "change your mind" at the last minute. In my case, I made the reservation for the smallest size the coupon would allow. That did happen to be big enough for me, but I did get upgraded once.

2. Always make your reservation over the phone at the 1-800-number. Since the phone center folks know less about what's on the lot than the lot guys, they're more likely to book you something the rental lot won't have. This is a huge help when you're renting moving vans. I once made reservations over the phone for a Ryder center that, unbeknownst to the phone center folks, only had like two trucks. Since the small one was out, they were forced to rent me the big one (and it was huge, probably bigger than my apartment) at the same price.

3. Use Coupons. The Entertainment Book has great coupons, but you can find them in the travel section of the Sunday paper, too.

4. Call around. If it takes you an hour and you save $40, you just made $40 an hour for your time. Not bad, eh? Ask about each company's specials before you tell them what you want--you may be able to fit the special into your plans.

5. Use the web only after you've called. Part of the messed up rental car system is that there are different specials on the web vs. on the phone.

If you have any other tips or ideas, feel free to post them!

The Whole Messy Story

Okay, so sometime last month, the car broke down. It's our only car--a Saturn SL1.

I purchased it--well, August will make three years. It was five years old, and it had only 24,000 miles on it.

I financed it for five years at 11%. This was a mistake I will never make again. Actually, I hope to never finance a car again, but even if I do, it will not be for five years. As my Dad correctly pointed out at the time I bought it, my little daughter, who was not yet one, would be in kindergarten before this thing was paid off.

Anyway, I put a lot of miles on it driving for work. Last month, I brought it up over the 100,000 mile mark. Although I try to be real, real good to it, I had the proverbial "bad feeling."

Sure enough, one morning as I was driving to work, the thing overheated. I pulled into the WalMart station to check my fluid levels and see what was going on. My radiator exploded a dark, thick goo all over my engine that looked like something Nickelodeon would sell to kids.

Turns out oil was leaking back into the radiator. A big mess. A big mess that's kept me from having the car for several weeks, and backwards in my debt payback plan to the tune of about $2,500. That's about equal to the amount I still owe on the car.

I'm taking a week's pay in lieu of vacation to help me pay for a chunk of that--I'd been planning to do that to pay off some of the debt anyways--and will shift some of my dramatic paydown money and my mileage checks into paying that off in a few months.

In all, this means I'm about three months behind, now, in my debt pay-off plan, which was already about six months too slow to get me out of debt by the end of the year.

What will happen, true believers? Will the 365 day turnaround be forced to become a 780 day turnaround? Will this debt-free thing ever happen?

Stay tuned to see how we get ourselves back on track!

Tale Of The Tape

Up two pounds. I wasn't really bad for eating, but I haven't really been exercising.

So I'm really behind on my birthday weight goal. A lot of that is discouragement from the car situation, which I still haven't mustered the energy to blog about. I'll probably post more about it on Wednesday or Thursday when the car's back and the dust has settled and I'm back to where I was a couple of months ago, financially.

Which, I really need to keep in mind, is still way ahead of where I was a year ago, financially and weight-wise.

Laugh Yourself Skinny

This article is a bit misleading.

See, on the surface, it says that laughing burns more calories than your basal, or "resting" metabolic rate.

That sounds really exciting. Laugh yourself skinny, right?

Only see--what they compared it to was sitting watching TV.

Your body never burns fewer calories than when you're sitting watching TV. You could sit and talk and burn more calories than sitting watching TV, since you'd be moving your mouth, gesturing, etc. You could hiccup and burn more calories than sitting watching TV.

So as far as exercise goes, they admit right in the article this is a great way to burn about four and a half pounds a year.

So don't swap your Kathy Smith videos for Marx Brothers just yet. Or, if you've already memorized the Smith routines, then maybe you can go ahead and make the swap and watch Groucho and Harpo while you do the memorized routines. Now that's multitasking.

Friday Mythbustin': The Extended Warranty

A few weeks back, a post about how I took advantage of I took advantage of my own stupidity when I'd bought an extended warranty. Using it now, I was able to get my old video camera working again.

Well, it turned into a celebration of all things warranty. We all posted about great things that happened when we got the warranty from one place or another. That, together with the enthusiastic endorsement of the person trying to get you to buy the extended warranty, may lead you to wonder why I even said in that post that warranties are usually a bad bet.

So, I thought I'd clear it up.

Warranties are insurance.

Insurance is a way of making things more expensive.

For example, we as Americans pay more for health care than what health care actually costs. This is because most doctors are not actually paid directly--they're paid either by an insurance company or the government. Which means that we not only have to pay for the salaries and equipment of the people in the doctor's office, but also for the salaries and equipment of the people who work at the insurance offices or the government buildings who process all of this money and these payments.

But what we do is put our money in a big pool and gamble, collectively, that we'll be the one it pays off for and that we'll get more out of it than we had to pay into it.

Now in the case of health care, it's obviously a necessity. The mere existence of the insurance industry has caused the prices to get so high that a medical crisis without insurance would bankrupt nearly anyone.

But for smaller things, odds are against you. Consider this quote from Dave Ramsey:

When you buy an extended warranty, you're covering commissions, overhead and profit. Thirteen percent of what you're paying for an extended warranty goes toward actual repair costs. If you'd set that amount aside, you could cover that average repair expenditure on your vehicle. The remaining 87% of what you are paying is going toward the warranty company's marketing costs (commissions and sales expenses) and profit. Extended warranties are extremely profitable for those selling them and a terrible deal for those buying them.

In other words, statistically speaking, you're only going to use that warranty 13% of the time--about once for every ten items you purchase. Those are horrible odds! A Vegas game with odds like that would be ignored even by the dimmest of casino goers.

Instead of shelling out money to these folks for each purchase you make, create a well-stocked emergency fund of your own. If the statistics hold true, your dollars will go almost eight times as far as if you'd paid them to take care of it.

And, don't underestimate the value of good old fashioned customer service. Use the regular warranty as often as is necessary. More products than you think actually have "lifetime warranties" on them. Also, many stores--like Wal-mart, dreaded as they seem to have become--have very liberal return policies as long as you're trading for merchandise rather than getting cash. As my cheapie Wal-mart VCRs have broken down quickly, I've just returned them and shelled out a couple more bucks for a slightly nicer model. I've done this a couple of times, until I finally got one that's worked fine for me.

So, use the customer service programs that already exist in the store, set up an emergency fund, and, in most cases, do a Nancy Reagan on anybody who pushes the extended warranty at you--just say no.

Free Credit Report

Okay, so I'm the last one to find out about this.

At least it feels that way. But since I still hold on to the hope that this might be useful to someone, I'll post it anyway.

It seems that there's been a new law passed that requires every credit reporting agency to issue a copy of your credit report to you for free at least once a year.

It's being phased in regionally, and as of yesterday, only the northeastern states are not yet eligible. Everybody else can go to annualcreditreport.com to get a printable copy, or call 1-877-322-8228 to request a copy be mailed to you.

The northeast will become activated for this September 1st.

Now, keep in mind, this is the only website that is legitimately offering these free credit reports. Other websites that purport to offer free credit reports actually sign you up for a credit monitoring service upon your request. I've heard this site makes a similar offer, but it does not require you to join, nor does it involuntarily place you on any list. This is where to go.

Make Diamonds -- Not Chaos!

If you've been to my house, you've seen there's a lot of signs around my desk. Some are about debt, with Dave Ramsey quotes, and others are about writing, with Artist's Way quotes. My wife makes these for me, as a way of encouraging me.

The title of this post is from the newest sign she made. It's from a quote that's my own. I wrote it in a training article for work.

"Explosions don't make diamonds. They just make messes. Diamonds come from consistent, intense pressure over time."

It's meant to be a reminder that it's better to do a little bit of something day after day after day than to try to do a whole bunch of stuff, all on one day. I think it's in our culture to make explosions rather than diamonds--we're used to the idea that problems can be solved quickly. TV teaches us that if a problem is funny, we can solve it in half an hour, and if a problem is serious, we can solve it in an hour.

For this reason, I think TV also teaches quick-fix values ("So what if your doctor says your weight problem will kill you? The most important thing is that you learn to love yourself for who you are").

The truth is that success at anything is slow and boring. Jackie Chan can make jumping through a window look easy because day after day he was forced to do arduous exercises at the Chinese Opera where he was raised. Successful writers don't just fling books out at the world and bask in fame--they spend most of their time alone tapping keys.

We tend to make dramatic starts--we stuff all the junk food in a trash can, or we rush out and buy a huge home gym or we vow to run 5 miles, right now, today. In a movie, that's all we get. The moment of resolve. The time when the change happens. We can just assume from there that it's all flowers and roses and happily ever after.

In reality, it's not always that way. If you've ever pushed against a door you thought was stuck, only to discover it wasn't even closed, you've experienced an interesting sensation--you pull back. You stop going through the door. Even though it's going where you wanted to go, your body has to compensate for the extra force you put into it.

Same thing here. Too much force at the start can force your mind and heart to pull back. It can actually inhibit your efforts. Counterintuitive, maybe, until you give it a little more thought.

A little each day pays off far more than a whole lot of fireworks that fizzle out fast.

Make diamonds, not chaos.

Chase Visa Wants Blogged About

Chase Visa, apparently disappointed I haven't mentioned the $400 card I kept for emergencies after I paid it off, has decided to do something stupid in order to get some blog time. I'm willing to give it to them.

A little after we paid off the card, my wife got a call from them asking if we wanted to sign up for some kind of protection service where we'd have certain transactions monitored. My wife, not sure if this was something we needed or not, asked them to send us the information.

When our bill came this month, we were charged for the service. Which we never signed up for.

When my wife called to point out that we'd never signed up for it, she was told that she must have signed up for it, because otherwise they wouldn't have been charged for it.

So she explained the prior conversation to the lady, saying she had only asked for information.

Honest, the lady's reply was something to the effect of, "Oh, well that explains it. We have to sign you up for it to send the information."

My wife still hasn't been able to convince them to reverse the charge and cancel them from the program.

I'll be calling them myself tomorrow, and I'll be sure to tell you all about that conversation.

Coupon Sadness

Okay, so how was I supposed to know they wouldn't put coupons in the paper on a holiday? Other holidays, they load that thing up with more coupons than . . . than . . . well, than something with a lot of coupons in it.

You can always try it next week.

Have a great holiday!

Coupon Joy

My wife sent me out to pick up some things since we were having a couple of people over for dinner. I got to do the coupon thing. Match the coupon with the sale and all that. Got a couple quarts of ice cream (Dreyers Slow-Churned Light, if you were worried) for a song. I can see the thrill she gets from it.

Come on--just try it. Find some coupons, then find some sale papers for a few grocery stores. Then play a matching game--it's like the one you used to play in grade school. Put the two together, and do a little math to see what kind of deal you can get on fun stuff.

Go on. Tomorrow's coupon day in the paper. Give it a whirl.

Friday Mythbustin': Knowledge Costs Too Much Money

Myth: Knowledge is expensive.

Fact: Knowledge is not only cheap, but it's worth it at any price.

Whenever I talk to somebody who's paying hundreds of dollars in interest and in debt up to their eyeballs, and they complain about the bind they're in I'll usually suggest something. A book, maybe, or a class down at the city rec center.

Their answer is inevitably the same: "Oh, I can't afford that!"

I don't usually press the issue. But think about it--how can they afford not to? It's not reading the book or not going to the class that's costing them the money.

Besides, they could get the same book for free down at their local library. They could find all the same information on the internet for free. They could invite a financially competent friend over for dinner in exchange for getting advice and tips. There are a million ways they could learn the things they needed to know to get out of their fix.

Why don't they? I'm sure there are as many reasons as there are people. In my case, it was procrastination, pure and simple. I knew what I needed to do, but I knew that making the turnaround would be painful. I was taking what felt, at the time, like the easy route, hoping that in a couple of years when I was making more money or things had settled down it wouldn't be quite so painful to do it. It's the American dream, right? That things can be better tomorrow than they are today?

Well, it finally dawned on me that things can get better any time I want them to--if I'm willing to make the effort. While the year may be half over, and my debt's only a quarter of the way gone, that's still better than what probably would have happened if I hadn't started this--the hole would be even deeper, and when I finally got around to making the turnaround, it would have taken even longer.

Knowledge is knowledge, and they'll package it up whatever way you want it, and put whatever pricetag on it you're willing to pay.

I noticed this a while back when I started getting into books by guys like Robert Kiyosaki and Tony Robbins. They'll put together a package for every price range. Want to pay $20? Here's a book. Want to pay $100? Here's a CD set. Want to pay $1,000? Here's a seminar. Want to pay $10,000? Here's a seminar on a private island. The knowledge is the same; they're just packaging it to what you can afford and what you think you need to pay to get worthwhile information.

It doesn't take money, but what it does take is time. And while I realize most of us don't feel we have enough of that (I know I sure don't) it's still the same deal as with the money--the longer you wait, the less of it you'll have. You're never going to have more time than you have today.

On A "Lighter" Note

As of this morning, I am officially down 30 pounds.

I was worried. The car problems had sent me straight to stress eating, which I am very good at. However, we really don't have any junk in the house any more, and the hotel room had nothing but water, so I guess I was forced away from snacking.

But I also wasn't doing my 3 miles a day. Or lifting weights. So I've probably just lost 4 pounds of muscle.

But who cares! It's a great feeling to know I've hit the 30 mark. To weigh as much as I did at the start of the year, I'd have to be holding my kid.

And six pounds a month is a good average.

Of course, that only leaves me a month and a half to lose another 12 to get to 220 by my birthday--but I think we can do it. Month and a half is about 6 weeks, so 2 pounds a week still keeps me on schedule. Although I do know the pounds get harder the lighter you go.

Anyways, woo-hoo! 30!

Don't Call It A Comeback

Well, don't ever brag about herbs if you ever want to blog again.

What's happened to me? What has led to my absence? Did I see fit to gouge out my eyes, Oedipus-like, after the Lasik incident? Did I give up on this whole turnaround and abandon hope, going down in a blaze of glory, with only bits of Krispy Kreme and Pringles left to mark the site of the tragedy?

Actually, I had to, once again, be right. Only this time, that wasn't a good thing.

Earlier in the year, I predicted I'd see at least one major car problem before this year was out. Well, it's upon me.

My engine started overheating on the way to work last week. When I got out to check the appropriate fluid levels, I discovered my radiator was filled not with a refreshing, cooling, brightly-colored liquid, but with a thick, black goo that looked like something Nickelodeon could have marketed to kids as a toy. Which meant that oil was getting into the radiator. Which meant that somewhere, something was cracked or broken. Something that would be expensive to repair or replace, and take lots of billable hours to get to.

So I turned my car in and was doing the "telecommuting" thing, when I got a call from my boss that they needed me to head down to San Diego for a couple of days to help with some things. She knew my car situation, so they rented me a car. This worked out well--they rented me the car for long enough that it should get me by until the other one is repaired--a fortunate twist.

However, I am still dreading the announcement of the final cost of repairing my car. Estimates put it somewhere around $1,400. As of my last payment, that's more than half of what I still owe on it. And if I borrow the money to pay for it, that's going to put me a month and a half behind on my already slow debt payoff schedule.

Anyways, I'm back now, and I'll keep you filled in on all the sordid details.

What's On Your Plate?

This morning for breakfast, I had an omelet with fresh oregano and cilantro. Fresh, as in right off the plant.

I don't know if I mentioned this, but my wife has taken up gardening.

Container gardening, to be specific. Since we don't own a home and live in a two-bedroom apartment, I'm really proud of her for her ambition. We've got everything from green peppers to chilies to strawberries growing out on the porch. And, as you guessed, a nice selection of fresh herbs.

This is her own contribution to our frugality experiment. This year we'll see what grows well and what's worth the effort, and then we'll improve our talents expand our repertoire of deliciously fresh fruits and vegetables as the years go on.

She grew up with a garden, so I guess this is old hat for her. I'll post more about it as some of the produce starts to come in.

Wise Investment: Life Insurance

Well, I finally sprang for life insurance. Fortunately, my company has a pretty good set-up where I get a fair amount for fairly cheap. It's a good shake.

I still don't have as much as I should have. How much is that, do you ask?

If you have kids, your best bet is to get 10 times your household income in term life insurance.

Why? Well, the first part--the 10 times your household income--is so that the money can take the place of working. Invest the entire amount somewhere where you'll get around 10% return on your money, and you'll be able to continue your current lifestyle without working, living just off the interest.

Why buy term, rather than whole life? A couple reasons. First, it's way cheaper. Second, if you're following a financial plan, you should have a good idea when your plan will replace the insurance. If you have $300,000 in insurance, get term insurance for the amount of time it would take you to get $300,000 sacked away yourself.

Obviously, if you're saving about 10 percent of your income, this would be about 10 years. Figure fifteen just to be safe. So get 10-15 year term insurance for 10 times your income.

Again--it doesn't even have to be your income. If you are a single parent, you would want to get enough to pay off any debt you had, with 10 times the amount it would take whoever you have legally designated to take care of your children to pay for them from year-to-year.

I don't recommend waiting for this. If you're young and healthy, you can usually get 10-15 year policies for up to a half a million dollars for under $20 a month. Nearly any budget can find room for that.

I am waiting for the debt to be paid off before I start making many investments, including my 401k, but not this one. My primary goal here is peace of mind, and I just bought myself a nice chunk of that, for just a little bit of money.

Sorry, You Didn't Win Free Lasik At Custom Laser Center, Even If They Say You Did

About a week or so ago I blogged that my wife might have won free lasik from Custom Laser Center in Los Angeles.

Well, she didn't. It's a marketing scam. Here's how it went down.

About a month ago, I entered her in the contest. You can see the entry form here, on their website, although we entered through a local radio station.

(Notice there are no "rules" posted for this contest, nor any mention that there exists any possibility other than "Win Free Lasik").

At the end of the month we get a phone call saying she was "this month's winner" in the "Win Free Lasik" contest. She'd be sent a $2,000 gift certificate. There was no mention of "2nd place," no mention that she had not actually won free lasik. If you inferred that, simply because you were told were a winner in the "Win Free Lasik" contest, oh well. As they would tell me later, they never actually said she had won free Lasik. She was told, as is correct, she had won a $2,000 gift certificate, so why would you think the Lasik would be free?

Well, partly because when we asked what the normal price range for surgeries was, we were told it was between $800 and $5,000. Again, this leaves the impression that there are surgeries that would be covered by a $2,000 gift certificate, since even if $800 was only for one eye, $1,600 would still be covered. After all, this doctor does surgeries for people with presbyopia and all kinds of other problems my wife doesn't have, so there's got to be some prices at the upper end that are beyond our needs.

Now, as you saw in my post about the win, I was suspicious. But, because of the price range quoted to me, I still thought there was at least a possibility.

As it turned out, the price range quoted was also technically accurate, but still deceptive.

Once we got down there, and after watching the video about Wally Joyner, Jessica and Ashlee Simpson, radio DJs, and local news anchors all getting surgery at this place, we were ushered into the back room where the girl sat at the desk with the computer and the paperwork.

She launched into the spiel, and when she came to the "How did you hear about us?" question and my wife said she'd won the contest, the lady proceeded to tell us how the contest worked. What we had actually won--the $2,000 gift certificate--was second place. It was the same thing they gave celebrities. It would not cover the cost of any procedure. In fact, it would not cover half the cost of any procedure, unless we wanted to drive down to San Diego and use their "old laser." Then it would be $1,700.

What about the $800-$5,000 price range quoted on the phone? Absolutely accurate. That includes all prices they charge anybody with or without the gift certificate. One eye, with the certificate, on the old laser, would be $800. Two eyes, without the certificate, on the good machine, would be $5,000. The full price range.

Never mind that it would have made more sense to quote us the price range either with or without the gift certificate, and then tell us which we were being told. Never mind that isn't what we had asked the guy (We'd specifically asked for the "normal" price range). Instead, quote the "full" price range just to get them down here and hope that after they watch the video they'll agree to "finance" the whole thing for $40-$50 dollars a month.

For the next nine years.

The price they charge you seems to have nothing to do with your problem. It's all about which machine you want them to use. Even though their website says, "We understand that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions in Ophthalmology," they seem to have found a one-price-fits-all solution where they charge a certain amount no matter what your problem is. So my assumptions that pricing would be based on severity of problem were dead wrong.

I don't know why I'm so furious with these guys. Even in my last blog post, it's clear I knew this was going to happen. I guess it's just the fact that I drove down there thinking I would see a full spectrum of prices, ranging from well below the amount of my gift certificate to well above--

The guy's exact words on the phone after he quoted the price range were "Why don't you come down and see how much it will cover?" Again, leaving the impression there was a chance it might cover "all" of it, or that it might cover "some" of it.

Instead, he knew exactly how much it would cover. It would cover $2,000. Since no surgery is less than that, there is never any situation where the gift certificate covers any other amount.

Any business relationship is about trust. A customer has to feel he can trust the place he's doing business with. I have to trust the mechanic is telling me the truth about what's under my hood. I have to trust the checker at the grocery store isn't going to steal my credit card number. I have to trust my bank will be able to give me my money tomorrow.

In this case, I'm sure that Dr. Gene W. Zdenek is probably a fantastic surgeon. I'll bet my wife's eyes would be as safe in his hands as in any of the top doctors in the world. I certainly do not think he's a quack, and I do not think anybody who works in his office is anything but sweet and nice. They really were fantastic to us--especially to my kids--while we waited.

But if I feel I was lured into the office under false pretenses, do I even want them going at my wife's eyes?

I don't know. Maybe that's just sour grapes.

I've wanted to get my wife free laser surgery for a while now.

In fact, Lasik surgery is one of the reasons I'm even doing this turnaround. Last Christmas I was thinking how wonderful it would be to get my wife Lasik surgery for Christmas this year. If I could save enough each month, I could have it for her at the end of the year.

Only when I looked at my finances, there wasn't the money to save for it each month. There wasn't enough money to pay the bills I already had each month. I had to do something, and I had to do it now. If I could get all my debt paid off in 2005, then I could get Lasik on the radar for 2006.

So when I took the message from the Custom Laser Center for my wife that she'd won, I guess deep down a part of me was hoping that somehow the universe was finally cutting me a break. Things were finally lining up in my favor.

Well, don't believe it, kids. Nobody's going to hand you anything on a silver platter. There's only one person who absolutely, completely and totally has your best interests in mind, and that's you.

Don't wait for the lottery or the casinos or your rich dying relative or the government to pop up and bail you out or give you what you need. If you know what you want, don't wait around for somebody else to give it to. Just knuckle down, put your shoulder to the wheel, and make it happen.

TANSTAAFL.

Friday Mythbustin': Interest Only Loans

Myth: Interest only loans are a great way to stretch your dollar each month. You get to build up equity without a huge house payment.

Fact: Interest only loans are a great way to take away all the benefits of having a mortgage while still keeping all the bad parts. And the length of the loan becomes a ticking time bomb of looming disaster.

I don't have to tell you all the supposed benefits of an interest only loan. The banks and mortgage lenders are doing their darndest to make sure you understand why interest only loans are the greatest thing since cavemen first started seeking shelter in caves.

But again--use your head. If your banker is really, really pushing it on you in advertisements, in print ads, and in face-to-face visits, who do you think it really benefits?

I had a friend who knew a guy who owned a used car lot. One of those lots you see in the not-so-nice parts of town that catered to people with bad credit. Here's the way his operation worked:

He'd get a car cheap. Either at an auto auction or through some other means. Say he'd pay $750. Then he'd put a $3000 sticker on it. When Joe Public came in to buy it, he'd tell the guy he could finance the $3000, but he'd ask for $750 down. He'd have made back all his costs the moment the guy made the down payment--the rest would be pure profit. Pure profit with over 20% interest. If the guy faulted on payments, he'd go repo the car and sell it to somebody else. This time, even the down would be profit.

Interest only mortgages are a way for the bank to do the same thing. They buy your house up front, and the house remains an asset--their asset, not yours--through the whole process. They get to collect money from you every month, just like you were renting, except that unlike renting, you pay the property taxes and you have to fix anything that goes wrong. Since the payment is interest only, you lose the only benefit of a regular mortgage--in a regular mortgage, some of your monthly payment is working towards making the house yours, free and clear.

Now the kool-aid drinkers of interest only out there are still asking "What about the increasing property values? Won't I get the increased value of my home as equity to help me buy my next home?"

In theory, yes. But the problem is that when you get the loan, you start a timer ticking. A time when your payment is going to "balloon" from something you can afford to something you can't afford. And when you're under time pressure, you become the target of bargain-hunters: a "Must-Seller."

Real Estate gurus like Robert Allen go on and on about how wonderful "Must-Sellers" are to people looking for bargains. These are people who have a house they need to sell and need to sell now. This could be because of a recent divorce, because of a pending foreclosure, because of a recent job loss, or--you guessed it--because of a pending balloon payment. When you're selling under time pressure, you're usually forced to settle at a lesser price than you would have if you'd have had more time.

And, chances are that if they got you to drink the interest-only Kool-aid, they'll get you to drink the second-mortgage-for-any-equity Kool-aid, and you'll squander that away, too.

The banks, knowing people have caught on to the five-year deadline, and fear it, have agreed to do fifteen year interest only loans, but "only if you have really, really good credit." It's hard to get anybody to muster up much fear of a looming deadline fifteen years away. What a bargain!

Except that $1000 dollars or whatever you think you were saving each month will end up costing you the full value of your home. If you'd have done what every financial person who doesn't sell loans recommends and got a 15 year regular mortgage, come 15 years and one day, you would own your home free and clear. No more payments. Now you're free to use that entire payment each month to do whatever you want. Save, take trips, whatever. In the meantime, your kool-aid drinking buddy is having to start all over, either by moving or by refinancing.

Remember--your goal isn't just to get a house. It's to get a house paid off.

Sleep

Well, my newest issue is probably sleep. As in, figuring how to get everything I need to get done, done, while still getting any sleep.

I've been getting about five hours of sleep a night, and it's just not enough. Yesterday in particular, my body started going into rebellion once the sun went down.

I guess it's like anything else--I just have to experiment until I find an amount of sleep that's right for me.

Getting enough sleep is more important to weight loss than you may think. Not only for the obvious reason (no sleep = no energy = no movement = no calories burned), but your body will actually slow down your metabolism if you didn't get enough sleep the night before. I don't know--maybe it's letting your body catch some zzz's a cell or two at a time. Either way, that means even fewer calories burned. People who don't get enough sleep tend to be heavier than people who do. It's counterintuitive--you'd think the people who were up doing stuff would burn more calories--but it's how the body works.

The question becomes how to get all the other stuff done while still sleeping.

Before the Before Pic

I already posted a Before and After set of photos, but I just came across this "Before the Before" pic on my hard drive and thought I'd share.

This was taken late September of last year. The before pic in the other post of me in the suit was taken in December. The after pic of me with Doctor Doom was taken a month ago.

So as you can see, I had a running start on this turnaround. I must have been at least 270 in this picture, maybe 275. This was before official government weigh-ins so I can't be sure.

Tale Of The Tape

I'm down another pound. Since today is almost exactly two months before my birthday, that leaves me almost exactly two months to lose 15 pounds to hit my goal of 220 by my birthday.

So far, in four months, I've lost 27 pounds. That's about 6.75 pounds a month. I'd have to step it up just a hair to 7.5 pounds a month to hit my goal.

Then, I'm giving myself the whole last half of the year to get to 200, that's going to be 3.33 pounds a month--less than a pound a month. Since I know those last few pounds are always the hardest, I'm purposely giving myself that extended time frame. I'm interested to see how much harder it gets. I know it's going to be frustrating to see my progress fall off by half, but I'm mentally bracing for it, so maybe that'll take some of the edge off.

Who Moved My Cheese?

My Dad emailed me this snapshot from the video version of the book Who Moved My Cheese? in response to my post from yesterday. It's a cute little book (Mick Foley complained there should be a separate bestseller list for pamphlets when this book was ahead of his thousand-some-odd page behemoth on the NYT lists) about learning not to waste time focusing on where you were happy, and finding new happiness.

On a related note, I got off the road today and drove up around the other side of the sign so I could see behind the tree.

It was an ad for an auto detailer.

If your answer to that question was "Detail my car!" then we need to talk.

The Billboard

There's a billboard up in Rubidoux with the following quote:

What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?

I have no idea what this billboard is advertising. If there's a logo or something on the billboard, I can't see it. There are some trees blocking the lower right hand corner--maybe that's where the logo is.

I googled the quote, and it's usually attributed to Robert Schuller, although occasionally they credit it to Tony Robbins.

But since it's been bugging me, it's caused me to really ponder the quote. It coincides with the things in this week's Artists Way stuff--recovering a sense of power.

In that book, she argues that some unbelievers use their unbelief as a crutch. Yes, my life stinks, they say, and nothing I want ever happens, but that's because the universe is cold and merciless and cruel. Belief--be it in a god, or in positive energy, or in moral absolutes--belief in anything would force them into a situation where they would have to accept responsibility for their own actions and for their own circumstances. Anything you believe in opens up possibility, and possibility is dangerously, intimidatingly freeing.

For one of the exercises in that book, you were supposed to list who, if you found yourself in the afterlife, you would want to meet. Then, you were to list who you would want to hang out with. Comparing the lists was supposed to be insightful.

I began to imagine in. Me, there in the afterlife. Everybody who ever lived was there, somewhere. After tracking down a couple of people I knew personally, I imagined my treks to go find the people I just had to talk to.

I hope I can explain the insight I got in a way that makes it clear what an epiphany it was for me.

As I was pondering my journeys in this place, marveling at my ability to move freely among all of humanity that ever had been, it occurred to me that I currently live in the same world as all of humanity that now is. Every place that now exists is there to be seen. I'm as free to move about this world as I was to move about the one I fantasized about.

I don't think I've ever fully comprehended that before. The reality that anything is possible. When I was a child, I didn't possess the financial or logistical means of doing such things. When I got older, work and other responsibilities always made me feel anchored down in a similar way.

But ultimately, if I can obtain the means to make it happen, anywhere in the world is open to me. Every person in the world exists to be met and learned from. Every opportunity afforded anyone, anywhere, is mine to have.

That's a terrifying proposition. Suddenly, I am no longer bound by circumstance. I'm no longer "just" my job or my title or my current station. I'm a creature of incredible potential, who is either moving towards it, moving away from it, or, worst of all, spinning his wheels, allowing himself to be borne down by the weight of a thousand yesterdays recycling themselves endlessly into today.

Please, please--not any more.

Good Fortune At My Own Expense.

Never get the warranty. It's usually a rip-off. The salesman will try to convince you that the second you walk out the door, the product is going to explode in your hands, and the only recourse you'll have is that warranty.

(Whenever they're doing this, I can't help but wonder if they really think their product is so bad they really, really need to sell me on a promise to fix it.)

Well, four years ago, I got the warranty for my video camera. I don't know why did it, except that I was stupid. If my four-years-younger self wasn't stupid, there wouldn't be a need for a turnaround.

So for about the last year, this video camera hasn't worked right. It works fine if it's plugged in, but if you try to run it off the battery, you get nothing. I kind of need a video camera, so I figured that would be one of my first purchases once this debt payoff thing's done.

Except as I was going through my desk looking for index cards, I discovered this fortuitous gift from my stupid past--a full, four year warranty from Best Buy from November of 2001--two months after my first daughter was born, and she was starting to do cute stuff I figured I'd want to see years and years later.

Apparently I wasn't a total moron--based on the last four digits of the card on the receipt, I didn't go into debt for the camera--I just let the guy bully me into an $80 warranty. Which means I now don't have to pay for a new battery that probably doesn't cost half that.

Either way, it was a nice bit of luck. Look for some of the results of my working camera to pop up soon over at mildlyamusing.com.

Now if I can just discover I left $5,000 in a good growth stock mutual fund and forgot about it.

Friday Mythbustin': Gatorade Is A Diet Drink

Myth: Gatorade is a good drink to have if you're trying to lose weight, because it's for healthy people.

Truth: Gatorade is sugar water.

Yup. You read that right. Gatorade is specially formulated Kool-Aid.

I'm not saying Gatorade is bad. It works. It does exactly what it's meant to do. But it's not meant to make a person healthy.

What it's meant to do is give you energy, and Gatorade does this really well.

There are several kinds of sugar, each of which your body processes at a different speed. Some can be absorbed into the bloodstream directly from your stomach. Some have to be processed by your kidneys first.

Gatorade contains a special mix of these sugars. By giving you some of each, it creates a "time release" effect, where by the time your body has finished processing one set of sugars, the others are starting kick in.

Now, as with all energy, if your body doesn't use it, it stores it. Which means if you aren't running around or working hard or somehow giving your body things to do with that energy, it's going to store it--and to your body, stored energy means fat.

So if you aren't up and moving when you have It in you, it will stay in you, on your waistline.

Which leaves you with two options. Either stop drinking it or go out and give yourself a reason to need it. Both should help a lot.

And it's not just Gatorade, by the way. Lots of so-called "healthy" drinks are basically sugar water, and just as bad as soda. I stopped drinking Sobes when I noticed the ingredients list was exactly the same as Mountain Dew, except the water wasn't carbonated.

Be careful when the first ingredient in your juice says "High Fructose Corn Syrup." Fructose is the sugar your body processes instantly. That means it spikes your blood sugar levels, and unless you're doing something to burn it, your body will instantly start pulling that stuff out of the blood and storing it as fat in order to get your levels back to normal. Not even Gatorade, the stuff designed for athletes who are giving 110% every moment, tries to pump that much sugar into the body right away.

3 Miles A Day

So somewhere a few days ago I got the idea I should start moving 3 miles a day. At this point, I don't care if I walk it or run it or crawl it, just as long as I locomote, under my own power, three miles every day.

This was due in part to watching Supersize Me. In that, the guy tries real hard not to move much. Not moving much is one of the secrets to gaining weight.

So I'm thinking, if this guy can create a "perfect storm" for weight gain, why not work a little harder to create a "perfect storm" for weight loss?

In essence, that's what I've been doing, but I knew if there was one category I was lacking in, it was the cardio. So I decided to give myself this goal of three miles to get me going on cardio.

So I've been doing it. It's been entirely walking, so far. Yesterday it was at the mall. Today it was just around a neighborhood. And you know what? It feels great. One of the coolest part was seeing how loose my clothes fit--I don't realize sitting around the office or driving my car all day that even with my belt on the tightest loop, it's not hugging my hips very well. That's really encouraging.

(There's a tip for you: If you want to feel good while you're walking, put on some of your "bigger" clothes, so you can feel like you've shrunk inside them as you walk. "Weren't these tight when I left the house?")

Of course, I blew my shot at a "perfect" storm--tonight was my brother's birthday, and once we busted out the meat at my folk's house, I didn't eat so hot. But at least it was grilled and smoked, even if it was pork and sausage. As penance, I passed on the cake.

Tomorrow, we shall make it all come together. Weightlifting in the morning, perfect eating all day long, and walking in the--well, walking sometime. Once I can fit it in.

And all shall be amazed at my powers of self-diminishment.

We won? Maybe?

A while back I mentioned "Dumb Stuff I'm Trying To Get Out Of Debt," or something like that. I said that in addition to all the smart things I'm doing, like coupon clipping and budgeting and debt snowballing, I was also trying some not-so-effective things like entering lots of contests.

Not the lottery, mind you. Not Vegas or online casinos. Just the free stuff. I use iwon.com for all my searches, that sort of thing. The way I saw it, at the end of the year, I'd be able to say, "Total raised by me: $____.__. Total raised by contests: $0.00."

Well, it looks like that may be wrong. But I say that with a caveat.

Over at the website of a local radio station, there's a contest page that shows all the contests Clear Channel has going on right now, and for the last few months there's been a contest for free Lasik, one free surgery a month, and I've entered my wife's name each month.

(While we both have vision problems, hers are far worse than mine. To get her Lasik has been a goal of mine for a while now, hence why I kept entering her in this contest.)

Well, she won. To be specific, she won a $2,000 gift certificate to Custom Laser Center in Los Angeles.

Now marketing is part of my job, too. So I have this underlying suspicion that while the ad says "contest" for "free" Lasik, this is really some kind of bait-and-switch technique, where it turns out surgery really costs $3,200 and they bring you all the way down there and butter you up and convince you to fork over the other $1,200.

When we asked them about it on the phone, they said procedures run from $800-$5,000, depending on your vision problems.

So I am extremely interested to see how this goes, and I will definitely be making a full report here. We're meeting the guy with the letters after his name a couple of weekends from now, so watch this space for exciting developments.

Erik on Supersize Me

I just saw Supersize Me for the first time. Yeah, I know that it would seem like the fitness-savvy half of this website would have been there on opening day, but the budget-savvy half of this side waits for most stuff to come out on DVD (the longer you wait, the cheaper, and all that).

Here's some of my thoughts. If you've seen it, you'll probably remember all the stuff I'm talking about. If you haven't, keep these in mind when you do check it out.

First, the biggest culprit in his weight gain and health problems wasn't the Big Mac, nor was it the Filet o' Fish he kept calling the "worst thing on the menu."

The burgers aren't health food, obviously, but if you remember the guy who's been eating two Big Macs a day since before he was married, the Big Macs weren't the problem. He was skinny, and his cholesterol was fine.

Plain and simple, it was the fries and the soda.

The guy knew this in the film. That's part of why it's called Supersize Me--he's paroding the company's willingness to give you a half a pound of fries and a tub of soda with your sandwich.

However, to claim that the company had an insidious plot motivating them do this is just crazy. In fact, it was Americans who were trying to be smart who motivated the whole "giant food" craze. They weren't trying to be smart about their health, though. They were trying to be smart about their money. Getting a ton of food for little money felt like a great value.

Fast food places were actually behind the curve on this one--they were copying gas stations. I remember when I was a kid, and you could get a 44oz soda at 7-Eleven or AM-PM for under a buck. You never got your soda at the fast food place. You got your burger there, and then headed over to the gas station for your tasty beverage. I would guess fast food places knew this was happening and chasing those dollars. The syrup for the extra soda probably only cost them a dime, and they got the business back.

Even in the movie, when they needed the really big soda, they headed to 7-Eleven.

So let's stop vilifying everybody. Let's stop saying it's the government's fault for letting McDonald's sell people a product they really wanted to buy. Let's stop saying it's McDonald's fault for producing a product that people enjoyed. Let's even stop saying it's the public's fault for trying to be smart about their money or their convenience or whatever motivates them.

Instead, let's take advantage of the new knowledge we have. Let's make smarter food choices and smarter reading choices (Googling "365 day turnaround" instead of "gossip about Justin Timberlake" is a good start, so I'm delighted you're here).

As is oh-so-briefly mentioned in the film, often times we don't care as much about health care as we do about "sick care." We notice our bodies only insofar as they stop working, and only then are we dragged kicking and screaming to see a physician. We don't live healthy, we "diet." We don't live healthy, we get gym memberships we never use.

That's part of why this website talks about a "365 day turnaround." I'm not looking to toss some pounds off and then go back to what I was doing. I'm trying to completely modify my lifestyle into one that makes my body healthier and healthier and my finances more and more solvent, rather than slowly getting fatter and fatter and getting myself into a deeper and deeper financial mess.

So I'm grateful for the movie, mostly because I think it imparts a whole bunch of really good knowledge, and knowledge is always power.

But as far as singling out McDonald's specifically--he also wasn't exercising (wasn't moving much at all), wasn't drinking water outside of what he got from them, wasn't monitoring his calorie intake--he was creating a perfect storm of physical neglect that went beyond just the food he was eating. I could probably get similar effects if I did all that stuff and ate his wife's vegan menus.

Okay, maybe not. But you get the idea.

Healthy is a lifestyle, not a boxed product from a fast food place.

Alton Brown On Supersize me

Here's what Alton Brown, host of TV's Good Eats--the show that got me interested in cooking--had to say after he saw Supersize Me.

I just saw the movie “Supersize Me” and I have to say that I liked it. It was fun, irreverent film making on a shoestring and it’s good to know that filmmakers can still pull that sort of thing off.

What shocked me about the movie wasn’t what it said, or. Heck I already new most of that stuff. What shocked me were the gasps I heard from the audience, most of whom seemed generally surprised that big business could be so…well…business like.

Here’s what it comes down to kids. Ronald McDonald doesn’t give a damn about you. Neither does that little minx Wendy or any of the other icons of drivethroughdom. And you know what, they’re not supposed to. They’re businesses doing what businesses do. They don’t love you. They are not going to laugh with you on your birthdays, or hold you when you’re sick and sad. They won’t be with you when you graduate, when your children are born or when you die. You will be with you and your family and friends will be with you. And, if you’re any kind of human being, you will be there for them. And you know what, you and your family and friends are supposed to provide you with nourishment too. That’s right folks, feeding someone is an act of caring. We will always be fed best by those that care, be it ourselves or the aforementioned friends and family.

We are fat and sick and dying because we have handed a basic, fundamental and intimate function of life over to corporations. We choose to value our nourishment so little that we entrust it to strangers. We hand our lives over to big companies and then drag them to court when the deal goes bad. This is insanity.

Feed yourselves.
Feed your loved ones.
And for God’s sake feed your children.

Don’t trust anyone else to do it…not anyone. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t go out to dinner every now and then…that is after all one of the great joys of life…but it isn’t life itself and that’s what I’m talking about.

Is MacDonalds food bad for you? What do you think? Does that mean you shouldn’t eat it? No, it just means you shouldn’t live on it or anything else made by someone you wouldn’t hug.

Burgers don’t kill people.
People kill people.
Don’t be one of them.

A

More on The Artist's Way

This isn't really a review, since I'm only 1/6th of the way through this book, but I have to say, I absolutely love it.

The book's subtitle is "A Spiritual Path To Higher Creativity," but honestly, it is neither as New Age or as artist-centric as the title might make it sound. In reality, it's a book for people who are, for some reason, finding themselves unable to do something they really, really want to do. Maybe it's the mythical "writer's block," or maybe it's taking up a hobby you've missed for years, or maybe it's quitting your job for one you actually enjoy.

Whatever it is, if you're blocked--especially if you're painfully blocked, I recommend The Artist's Way.

It's certainly not for everybody. As you can see in the reviews, people either love this book or they absolutely loathe it.

Some may find Cameron's tone too dreamy and poetic--if you are such a get-down-to-business type, you probably just get-down-to-business and do it anyway, and don't need the book. But if, perhaps, you know you should get-down-to-business, but can't bring yourself to do so, this book might help restore some of the sense of "play" that is, in the end, what makes any "serious" business worthwhile.

The book--at least so far--could be summed up as the counter to the worldly idea in this quote, taken from the book's margin:

We have been taught to believe that negative equals realistic and positive equals unrealistic. -- Susan Jeffers

This book strives to restore the position of the "positive" as not only realistic, but, ultimately, the only thing worth bothering with.

It's set up as a twelve week course, apparently mirroring an actual twelve week class the author used to teach. The two primary features of the course are "Morning Pages"--three pages of stream-of-consciousness writing about anything you do each morning--and "The Artist's Date"--a date with one's proverbial "inner child" each week, where you do something you know you would enjoy but wouldn't normally have the chance (or allow yourself!) to do.

If all of this seems too "group therapy" for you, you might want to steer clear. But if it sounds intriguing at all, go do a "Look Inside This Book!" thing over at Amazon and see what you think.

Anybody reading ever finish it?

Friday Mythbustin': I'll Just Have The Salad

Myth: It's good to order "just" a salad if you're trying to eat healthy or lose weight.

Truth: Salads are sometimes the most fattening thing on the menu.

I had to throw this in here today after listening to an office full of people discussing lunches, and hearing how often the phrase "just a salad" or even the word "salad" came up.

The idea behind salads is a decent one. Since vegetables are high-fiber and low-calorie, a nice little mix of them adds fiber and some minerals without adding very many unwanted calories. Hence the "salad" portion of the meal. Some lettuce and tomatoes and things to balance the straight carbs and protein, like bread and steak.

But when you make the salad the center of attention, it seems kind of dull. It needs spruced up a little, badly, to become a complete meal. In fact, it needs carbs and protein--all the stuff you used to eat on the plate next to the salad plate.

So that's what restaurants did. They started adding bells and whistles to the salads to the point where all those fiber-filled vegetables have become a bed, a nest, a holding center for lots and lots of calorie filled stuff.

Think about the stuff people put on salads:

Dressing: By far, the worst offender. Two tablespoons of bleu cheese dressing contain 118 calories. That glob of dressing on top of that tomato slice has more calories than the whole tomato (which had about 22 calories whole).

Ah, but!, you say. Bleu cheese is 100% fat! I will go with the fat-free dressing! Well you're on the right track--you've probably gone from 118 calories per two tablespoons to around 50. Still more than twice the original tomato, and chances are the restaurant's globbed more than two tablespoons on your lettuce.

Your best bet is to go with as low-cal a dressing as you enjoy the taste of, and then try to spread it as thinly as you can throughout the salad. Some people say to get the dressing on the side, then dip your fork in the dressing, then take a forkfull of salad. If that works for you, great, but I've never really dug it.

Croutons, Chips-strips, Noodles, etc.: Would you eat straight white bread or chips if you were dieting? So then why is it suddenly a "diet" food when it's on a salad?

It's not, plain and simple. Lots of that stuff is fried, lots of that stuff is stuffed with calories, and lots of that stuff has zero nutritional value.

Unfortunately, it's also my favorite part of most salads.

(Okay, little confession. There was a time where I'd use Lucky Charms on my salads. Yes, the breakfast cereal. The crunchy part acted like croutons, and the marshmallows gave a nice sweet flavor, like raisins.)

It's probably the realization that I can't have croutons with it that turns me most off to salads now.

(To give you an idea of the difference the above two make--the Caesar side salad at Wendy's, without the dressing and croutons, is 90 calories. That's including the cheese and the "bacon pieces." With the dressing and croutons, it shoots up to 290 calories. Those two have twice the calories of the rest of the salad.)

Meats: "Ah, that's a fine cut of meat. Put it in the salad."

Not high up on the list of things you're going to hear at most of the restaurants you and I can afford. Chances are that's not the leanest stuff in the house.

Plus, lots of salads feature "hard" meats, full of saturated fats and other calorie-laden stuff that's really yummy but not all that healthy. Even if it's chicken, it's often the same fried "finger" chicken they serve in appetizers, with all the added calories of deep-frying.

Cheese: Cheese is another make-or-break. Piles of shredded cheese add on saturated fat calories. A a lot less of a flavorful hard cheese, like Parmesan, can do the same thing for fewer calories.

How big a difference in calories can we find in what constitutes a "salad?"

Well, at Jack In The Box, if you get a Chicken Caesar Salad, you're looking at around 220 calories, without the dressing. But if you get the Chicken Club Salad, that's a plate of 825 calories, before the dressing. The Bacon Bacon Cheeseburger has less than that. That's about the same as a Jumbo Jack and medium fries.

Over at Wendy's, that Mandarin Chicken Salad might seem tempting, with only 170 calories. But that's only before the noodles, almonds, and dressing. Those kick you up to 610 calories, giving you more calories than the Big Bacon Classic sandwich.

So "salad" might be a good starting word, but it's not enough to guarantee healthy eating. Some good words to tack on there would be "grilled" (as in the meat), "low-cal" (as in the dressing), "sensible" (as in the portion size), and fresh (as in the ingredients, because fresh vegetables are quite the opposite of bland).

Commemorating An End To Procrastination

I think I'll do today's blog entry tommorrow.

Do It Now! Do It Today!

I am a master procrastinator. The champ. If there were any area of life where procrastination triumphed, mine would be a Rocky-level success story.

Unfortunately, this is planet Earth, and here, procrastination is debilitating. Today I re-read some things I wrote several years ago, around the same time my daughters were born.

Guess what I was talking about?

Yup. My weight issues. My money issues. My job issues. My school (or lack thereof) issues. The same nonsense I'm still dealing with. The same problems I blog about here day after day.

My younger self actually wrote, "Even if I got back in school today, I wouldn't be ready for a masters program until I was 30. 30! My life would be nearly half over."

I want to throttle that kid. You're barreling down on 30 now, man! It came even though you weren't in school. What were you waiting for?

He probably deserves some slack. Though he didn't know it, he was only a couple of months away from doctors finding a tumor in his newborn daughter's leg and having some of the hardest decisions of his life.

The guy that needs throttled is me--the one who came through all that and still hasn't learned. Who still can't do today what he can put off 'till tomorrow.

So part of my turnaround will be transforming from Erik, Royal High King of Postponement into Erik, Guy Who Does It As Soon As It Needs Done.

I'm going to change a couple of habits that, while I realize are only symptoms of the problem, will help me remember this change and give my positive self-talk some back-up.

From now on I will:

1. Refill the gas tank on half a tank, rather than waiting for it to empty.

2. I will take out the trash before the rim is reached, not once the pile above the rim is no longer architecturally capable of supporting more trash.

3. I will get anything that must be done before the end of the month done by the 17th of that month.

Down Another Pound

Well, I'm down another pound. I have about 10 weeks to go until my birthday, and about 16 pounds to reach my goal of 220 by my birthday. Will I be able to pull it off? Will I shed this excess weight and rise above my yo-yo past, or will I crash and burn, brought down in a blaze of deep-fried foods and oversized portions?

Stay tuned, true believers, as the saga continues . . .

Testing A New Posting Feature

Yet another attempt to try and facilitate my publishing this blog easier,
leaving me more time to write my fiction and other things.

Hopefully, this experiment will not go as freakishly wrong as it went on my
other blog, leaving my entire page looking like portions of another blog had
been cut and pasted into mine. We will have to see.

In the meantime, the 365-day-turnaround continues, and new weight
information should be up tomorrow in the new tale of the tape.

Also, just like I've used Dave Ramsey's baby steps to try to control my
finances, and Bill Phillips' Body-For-Life to get going on fitness,
I'm once again giving Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way a shot at
re-energizing my creativity. It was a birthday gift from my dad shortly
before the birth of my first daughter, and I started the 12 weeks, but never
finished them. This time, I'm giving it another go. We'll see if this
makes any sparks, and any sparks will be duly reported.

Changing The Cardio

For the last four months, I have been very faithfully lifting weights. My brother and I have only missed a couple of days--once, because his wife had a baby, and once, because my daughter had an earache.

I haven't been nearly so faithful with my cardio. Because we both figured we could do cardio without needing a spotter, we didn't get together to do it.

Well, that's changing this week.

Starting Teusday, we will also be doing cardio together. I don't mean side-by-side (that boy could probably run me into the ground) but we will meet each morning, like we do with weightlifting, so we both feel the positive peer pressure to get up and do it.

I hope to see this push me to the proverbial "next level," fitness wise.

I'll let you know.

Friday Mythbustin': "Right Way" vs. "Wrong Way"

Myth: There is one right "way" to eat, and once you discover it, you're going to be slim, happy and healthy.

Truth: Because people's bodies and goals are different, "right" and "wrong" can be completely different for different people.

So there are diets that say to eat no carbs.

And then there's diets that say that to eat carbs, but only when you balance them with protein.

And then there's diets that say to eat carbs and protein, but never at the same time.

What's going on here? Why can't anybody agree?

What you have to remember is that different diets have different purposes. They're each trying to make your body do different things.

For example, a lot of the "no-carb" diets are trying to trigger a specific reaction in your body--a thing called ketosis. The entire goal of this type of diet is that one single thing. Dieticians disagree about whether ketosis is a good thing or a bad thing, but they all agree a no- or low-carb diet will get you there.

The types of diet that require you don't eat combinations of food--they usually say to eat nothing but fruit until noon, and then make sure time passes between when you have carbs and when you have protein--are actually less about weight loss, and more about keeping your system clean. Since different chemicals are required to digest carbs than protein, your body can process them faster if you only throw one of them at a time into your system.

On the other hand, diets that ask you to eat foods in combination are trying to do the opposite--since digestion burns calories, the longer the digestion process takes, the better. Combinations of food slow the rate of absorption into your body, giving you the chance to burn that energy before it gets stored.

So if it seems like two food statements are in conflict (This article says I should eat broccoli, but this one says I shouldn't) stop and look at what the reasoning for each statement is. A difference in recommendation is usually because of a difference in goal.

Good-Bye Cheap Internet

Well, I just got word that what has been one of the nicest budget items I have--my dial-up internet access--is going away.

Access4less.net is going to discontinue doing dial-up on May 9th. I've been getting dial-up service from them for $5.95 a month for some time now, and have not had any complaints about their service.

I'm a no-frills internet kind of guy anyway--spare me your special browsers and your nifty chat features and your special dialers. Just give me the settings to plug into my dialer, don't hassle me, and I won't hassle you. Access4less was internet service that worked for me.

If I don't do anything, they're going to bump me over to Earthlink for $9.95 a month, which only represents a $4.00 increase in my budget, and while $4.00 doesn't bother me so much any more, six months ago, that would have been a pretty big deal to me, and so there's still a little voice in my head that's upset about it now.

Either way, I'm going to miss my silent ISP. I have a suspicion this is going to be like when my neighbor upstairs moved away and the new people moved in--it's not that I missed seeing and hearing the folks upstairs, it's that I miss not seeing and hearing them.

On Budgets--An Analogy or Two (or Six)

I've been using an analogy lately when talking to people about budgets. People seem to think using a budget is like tying up your hands and feet before jumping into shark-infested waters. If the month is going to be tough, financially, why limit yourself? Why not leave yourself completely free to use the money the way it's needed?

I'd say that's like a major-league center fielder looking at his glove and saying, "You know, this thing is really limiting me. It's got two positions--open and close. If I took this thing off, my hand would really be free to catch that ball that's hurling at me through space."

Or a carpenter who says, "You know, I keep using this hammer, and the end of this hammer is really small. I'm even missing the nails sometimes. But look at the size of the palm of my hand! I bet I'd never miss if I used that. What am I using this tiny little hammer for?"

The fact is, the budget is a tool, and like most tools, it gives you more freedom than if you didn't use it, because it gives you more power.

Budget represents your money saddled and bridled, with you firmly in control. No budget is when your money running wild and free, dragging you to all sorts of places you never expected (or really needed) to go.

I never plan to go a month of my life without a budget again. I'll never trap myself, hold myself back like that again.

Missing the Update

I should get the Tale of the Tape updated by Thursday. I'm sure it doesn't bother other people as much as me when I don't do it on Mondays, but the first half of this week is a little hectic, and I haven't been able to get to Official Government Scale I use to weigh myself each Monday.

I did bring the finance portion down a bit, but it will come down a little more when I do the update. However, because of debt snowballing, a $300 mileage check, and a reimbursment check for work expenses, I was able to make a $750 car payment this month, and I had to post that. My car payment is usually $170.

I'll tell ya'--it was a great feeling. I'm so far ahead of where I was just four months ago. I couldn't be gladder that I've been doing this.

Between that and the fact that I'm starting to get some real shoulders, I'd say things are going pretty well.

More On Separate Checking Accounts

My friend Becky makes the case that, rather than pooling all their money, it's a good idea for couples to pool some of their money, and leave the rest separate--the idea being, more or less, that the money that's together will help avoid the conflicts that come from having all your money separate, and the money that's separate will avoid the conflicts that come from all your money together.

I really feel that the opposite is true--keeping some money together and some money separate opens up the door for both types of problems.

I'm reminded of a buddy of mine who was a missionary. Normally, missionaries serving together keep their finances separate, for the only real good reason to do so: They're going to be leaving each other eventually, and it will make the separation easier.

However, one missionary he was living with convinced him it would be a good idea to pool part of their money for food and other expenses.

What do you think happened? The other missionary ate all the food, even though they'd gone in halvsies on it. The other missionary spent all his personal money at the start of the month, so when unexpected expenses came up my friend had to pay for all of them. At the time I met him, this missionary had a bunch of "rainy day" money saved. When I saw him again after he served with this guy, that was entirely gone.

Same thing in a relationship. Let's say Marci and I did this. What I got in an accident, and I had to use Marci's car? Would I then pay for the gas and oil changes for Marci's car, since I'm the one using it? But I still have to pay for the deductible for my car.

And what about when we're doing something together that only one of us wants to do? If we go to a comic book convention on my day, would I pay for both of us, since I'm the only one who really likes that? And if we go see a chick flick on her day, should she pay, since it's a movie she wants to see?

The problem with the above examples is how independent they both try to be. My car. Her car. My night. Her night. If we really are in this together, that's our car. It's our night. It's the separatedness that makes conflict inherent in each of the interactions above.

A couple of points--

First, I am not saying multiple checking accounts are a bad idea. I'm going to be opening up another account here eventually, when the first check for ad revenue for this site comes in. What promotes conflict is separate checking accounts--accounts where expenses are, in effect, "hidden" from the partner.

Also, I'm not saying complete unification of finances is going to be conflict free. I'm saying that pooling all the money creates a sense of unity with both partners that makes the conflicts easier to handle. Even if my wife and I are at odds about whether me buying printer toner is more important than her buying a sewing machine part because we don't have the money for both, the fact that we're arguing about our money and what's best for us puts us a step ahead of those couples who are arguing about "my" and "yours" and "you" and "I."

And because we've taken that attitude about everything--even our debt--that puts us at a full advantage. She came into the marriage with a lot of debt, and a lot of conflict came from her continuing to think of that debt as "hers." She didn't feel I should have to pay it. Now, by fully relinquishing "her" debt to "us," we're able to pay it off a lot more effectively than if we were still fretting about whose was whose. The second we decided to become an "us," the debt had to, had to, become "ours."

Would it have made sense, financially, if I was investing "my" extra money and getting a 10% return, while "her" debt was still costing 18% a year? It might have made sense for me, but it wouldn't have made sense for us.

I'm not saying we won't eventually budget each other a few dollars. We aren't doing that right now, because we're paying down debt so aggressively--right now the sewing machine is still broken and the printer still has no toner--but we'll eventually reach a point where we can budget out for a few of our "own" purchases.

I am saying that since money is directly linked to emotion, fully "investing" in a relationship by contributing your entire salary allows and creates a more complete emotional commitment. Failing to fully commit financially may represent that a person hasn't fully committed emotionally.

And, since partners know this too, a complete surrendering of one's finances to the relationship will be perceived as one of those actions that speak so loud it's hard to hear what you're saying. So will failing to make that commitment.

So again--I'm not saying completely pooling finances will eliminate all conflicts. It won't. I can testify to that.

I am saying it can create a sense of relationship security, of unity, that cannot be had otherwise.

Quote

"There are long periods in life when everything moves in lazy repetition, when each week resembles the next, when nothing happens, when it seems that nothing ever will happen, that existence has no change in sight and no complications can come to disturb the satisfying routine, which has been established. Then suddenly everything is accelerated, events crown in, swift decisions have to be made, when hardly the time is given to make them, when everything is hurried, dramatic, and intense."

Owen Johnson

Erik Live!

Tommorrow I'll be speaking and doing a Q & A as part of a panel on employment and finance at a church in Colton, CA, at around 10am. Email me if you'd like directions.

Stats

Here's the numbers: Depending on what study you look at, between 75 and 89% of all divorces can be traced to quarrels and accusations over money.

It's wise to get on the same page with your spouse financially.

Friday Mythbustin': Separate Checking Accounts

Myth: It's good to have separate checking accounts so both spouses can feel like they're contributing and maintain a sense of their own identity.

Fact: Having separate checking accounts is bad news, both for the relationship and for the budget.

When my wife and I first got married, we only had one checking account, but we had two separate checkbooks.

Say what?

Yeah. The way we figured it, as long as both checkbooks stayed balanced, both of our money was always there, and if we added the two checkbooks together, we'd know our bank balance.

It was, to put it mildly, a disaster.

We reverted to one checkbook pretty quick.

What I learned from personal experience, I've heard backed up time and time again, both by financial people and relationship experts.

One of the common factors that pops up before a relationship heads for trouble is that the couple starts using separate checking accounts.

Not only should both spouses pool their money, but both spouses should be involved in the finances.

Why is this?

1. Trust. You're not going to worry whether your husband picked up the tab for his secretary's new necklace if you both have access to all the family financial records. Ask anyone who's ever had a spouse who was involved with drugs or other problems, and they'll tell you one of the first warning signs was that their spouse started being very secretive about money.

2. Unity. If you're making financial decisions together, it will keep you on the same page, financially. You won't see her dashing out to buy four or five new chick flick DVDs with money you'd saved by eating tuna sandwiches for lunch (even though you hate tuna) so you could take her out that weekend.

3. "You and I" becomes "We." There's no arguments over whether "I" paid more towards bills or "you" paid more towards bills when "we" had to pay all the bills. If you're worried that pooling the money will allow your spouse to take advantage of you, swiping up all "your" money to buy "their" stuff, your marriage needs help for reasons unrelated to money. As long as it is "you and I" (or, more accurately, you vs. me) instead of "we," you will always have issues.

4. Exponential Increases of Power. Remember how they're always saying that in physics, 1+1 can often equal 4? Phrases like "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts?" That's how it becomes when money and energy is pooled. With the finances and intelligence of both partners contributing to the family's entire financial pool, rather than each assuming one or two specific areas, you get greater strength in every area.

5. Commitment. How many Olympic athletes do you think won medals who started out a race by dipping their toe in the pool and slowly climbing in the water to adjust to the temperature? You might think that's a poor analogy (Marriage isn't a race, after all) but I think it's a great one.

One of the reasons so many relationships end with both partners bailing is because both partners spend so much time making sure the parachutes work. Making sure finances are separate, cars are in separate names, maybe even avoiding a legal ceremony all because hey, well, we have to be ready in case it doesn't work. If they put as much effort into making it work as they put into being ready in case it doesn't, their relationship would probably work out just as well as their exit strategy would have.

How much more confidence would you have in your relationship if a spouse pitched all their money in together with yours, and sat down with you and began to make plans for how the two of you would prepare for your retirement years together? Would it give you a good sense that your spouse was in this for the long haul?

How do you think your spouse would feel about your level of commitment if you did the same thing?

Wouldn't it take a little of the edge of some of those fights if you both knew that you were still in it for the long haul?

Now I'm not saying money is the only way couples can become more united. But it definitely is one of them. Far more breakups and divorces are caused by financial concerns than are caused by infidelity and abuse.

So if you're in a relationship you want to stay in, pool your money. If you're not willing to put your money into a relationship, why in the world are you willing to put your time and your heart into it?

Family Fun On A Budget: Yes, Even Disneyland

So, nobody was all that impressed with my pictures.

Well, will anybody be impressed if I say I spent Tuesday at Disneyland?

That I took me, my wife, and my two girls to Disneyland on a budget?

Is anybody paying attention to any of this?

Well, if anybody cares, here's how I did it.

There's an old saying in sales. "You can have it fast, cheap, or good. Pick any two."

This saying always holds true. You can get good, fast food for example, but it costs. If you want cheap, good food, it's not going to be fast--you're going to have to take the time to make it yourself from scratch.

So if you're on a budget, that means that, in most cases, you're either going to have to sacrifice it being fast or sacrifice it being good.

In the case of Disneyland, you can't control the quality (It's still good, no matter what your opinion of Eisner), so what you have to give up is speed. As with all purchases, you get the best deal if you bide your time. The more flexible your time frame, the better a deal you have time to find.

In our case, we knew we wanted to go to Disneyland, but we gave ourselves all the time in the world, and we were able to whittle the price for the tickets for my wife and myself down to free.

Yes, free.

We received an ad for a timeshare presentation that guaranteed that you would receive a fantastic prize at the conclusion of the presentation, whether you joined their program or not. If you weren't happy with your prize, they'd swap it for two tickets to the "Orange County resort" of your choice. Including Disneyland.

We pounced on it. We said no a lot that night, to a lot of people, but ultimately we ended up with the free tickets.

And, as you'd expect, there were all kinds of limits and restrictions on what days we could use the tickets (nothing too close to a holiday, no weekends, etc.) and there were a lot of hoops to jump through (mailing in forms and getting back forms and mailing in other forms, etc.) but ultimately, we ended up with a couple free tickets to Disneyland a free night's hotel stay in Buena Park (Right by Knotts Berry Farm. They offered to move us by Disneyland for $30 more. I'm sure the people who got Knotts Berry Farm tickets were already staying over by Disneyland, and being offered rooms in our hotel for $30 more).

Since Miriam is older than 3, we did end up buying her a ticket. So me, my wife, my three year old, and my two year old all got into Disneyland for the price of one child's ticket.

As for food, we brought a backpack with snacks and treats we bought cheap beforehand, so we could munch on things all day long, rather than stop the fun to pay outlandish prices for Disney food.

We did also pay $10 for parking.

So the moral of the story is know what you want, and then be flexible about when you want it, and you may be surprised with what types of deals turn up eventually.

Oh, and the Universal Studios pics? That trip was courtesy of the company I work for. The moral of that story is work real hard and people will recognize and reward you for it.

I hope I'm not making this 365 Day Turnaround thing look too easy, because it's not. It really is a challenge (Just getting this tickets was a challenge, with all the hoops you had to jump through. Fortunately, it was a challenge that didn't cost money).

I do hope I am making it look like a whole lot of fun.

Tale Of The Tape: 90% Of The Man I Used To Be

Yup. I'm down 25 pounds.

::Does silly, giddy dance::

And that leaves only 17 pounds to hit 220 by my birthday in July.

And then I'll have a whole six months to lose the last 20 pounds.

Right on schedule.

Oh, and Dell? The company I said I'd never mention again? It was nice to get their bill today and see that $0.00 in the "amount due" line.

Life is good.

Before And After

I know I haven't posted a picture before. Here's a pair. Maybe this will add to my credibility some.

The "before" pic is the work Christmas party in December. I was at least 262 pounds, since that's where I started the year, but probably more, since I started dieting a little before that pic was taken.

The after pic is last week, at Universal Studios, with Doctor Doom, the arch nemesis of the Fantastic Four. I'm down around 240 in that pic.

Both photos are clickable if you want bigger versions. And flickr.com, where I hosted them, has some cool features if you want to check them out.

I hope these pics will confirm that I do know what I'm talking about, and encourage somebody change is possible.

Oh, and for those who are wondering--yes, there are "Body-For-Life" style before and after shots where I have my shirt off.

You're welcome for my not posting them.

Yes, I'm Back

No, I have not abandoned my quest for the year that changes the entire direction of my life.

Certain work obligations kept me from being able to post this week. I apologize for not warning everyone in advance--I honestly intended to blog each day this week, and each day found myself unable.

But that "crisis" has past, and I will now be back to regular blogging. However, I will be making a couple of changes.

First, I will be discontinuing the Sunday book review. On Sundays, I won't be blogging at all. I'm letting you know that now, that so that you will know there's no need to check that day (although my stats show me hardly anyone checks on Sunday anyway, so I don't feel too bad).

Also, I'll be replacing the Friday feature. Instead of talking about gambling, I'll talk about money and diet myths. I guess I might talk about gambling if I can dispel a myth about it.

(Actually, if you want to hear gambling myths, just read an ad for any lottery or casino. To paraphrase Dave Barry, if you want to know the truth, it's usually the opposite of what advertisers are paying millions of dollars to try to convince you. If Coke and Pepsi spend millions of dollars trying to convince you that one product will make you attractive and popular, and the other will make you a socially backwards wanna-be, then they're probably both just fizzy sugar-water.)

I have continued to diet and spend right, and events that would have been crises a short time ago have become easier and easier to bear.

Last Saturday, after I posted, we discovered the tire was flat on my car. We discovered this after my wife had taken it to the grocery store.

(I love my wife.)

However, paying $50 for a new tire was no problem. We didn't use a credit card, we didn't do any debt--we had a bit of emergency fund, so we were okay.

We're really, really okay. I've only been at this for three months (four, if you count that I sort of started in December) and we're already out of "crisis mode." We're no longer sweating those last few days before payday, hoping the gas and food can make it. We've established a bit of an emergency fund, and even keep a "cushion" of money in the checking account that we don't run out and spend indiscriminately.

It's a wonderful feeling.

But it's also a bit of a hindrance. Because the crisis is passed, the fear is that we will lose some of the fire. That we will not pay down the remaining debt as aggressively as we need to, because our monthly "Cash flow" situation is not as desperate now that many of those bills are gone.

Now is when discipline and vision are beginning to become more and more important--that we move those dollars we were paying over to the next bills each month, rather than finding new and less productive ways to spend them.

But I do not feel bad at all for those dollars I'm letting pile up in my checking account and emergency fund. Sure, they might save me a couple of dollars in interest if I shoved them all at the debts. But the peace of mind of knowing that it's there, the satisfaction I get from not having to take steps backwards by plopping down a credit card for every emergency, all of that so valuable to me--in fact, it's truly priceless.

If you don't have one, make an emergency fund for yourself. Even if you're paying down debt, stop long enough to get some dollars sacked away. I can't recommend it highly enough.